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Sounds like you are speaking for democrats. Lots of people I know (myself included) have invested time and energy learning how to survive without consumerism. Plenty of food is growing around us, if we know where to look, and it is free for the taking. There's tons of useful trash that people throw away, which can be repurposed. I just built a huge worktable with a top from an old piece of furniture someone was throwing away. It would have cost me upwards of $200-$300 to buy a similar table new, but cost me less than $40 after I figured the cost of additional lumber and screws.
Ever go to garage and estate sales? You can find pretty much anything you need, and the price might as well be free, with as little as they typically charge. Much of that old "junk" was also made to a higher standard than the real junk we are purchasing today.
I have faith that America has all it needs to prosper, and would do well in the scenario you describe. Democrats may struggle for awhile, but eventually they would be put to work doing menial labor/task work instead of smashing the hamburger button at some fast food place. Personally, I think we have too many fast food places. The average American could stand to lose some weight, and cutting back on fast food would be a great start.
i can relate to this..sometimes i wonder if all the commercialism to buy junk we don't even need is at least oe reason our culture is a mess...all the consumerism is a byproduct of the assembly line manufactures who needed consumers..starting around ww1...this is NOT an attack on capitalism but the right would perceive it as so lol
Iran hasn't imported any Hollywood films since the 1979 Islamic Revolution, but that hasn't stopped US sanctions from affecting the country's movie industry. Inflation in the country has slashed the industry's budgets and ability to market internationally, Variety reported earlier this year.
It sounds like piracy could be a fairly sizable market there!
Most of the movie theaters, bazaars, and parks are empty. Some tourist areas are still busy.
The inflation has caused a lot of commerce to die down. I think the sanctions are good because they've stopped a lot of the modern malls from being constructed (terrible places that ruin culture) but average rug sellers should be able to find buyers.
Hopefully the inflation stabilizes, its too much right now.
Business Insider brands the sanctions "Trump's sanctions." No mention of atomic bomb development, or what "all devout Muslims go to heaven" in an atomic war means for the world.
To drive home the horror caused against every day Iranians by the sanctions, 11 photos are included which show the sanctions impact on the Persian rug industry, skate board accessories (I kid you not), and closed movie houses (but with the confusing factoid that all western movies were banned since 1979).
I am guessing that baby formula, pampers and pharmaceuticals are getting through. There is inflation but I am guessing a black market economy around the dollar. WTF!
i can relate to this..sometimes i wonder if all the commercialism to buy junk we don't even need is at least oe reason our culture is a mess...all the consumerism is a byproduct of the assembly line manufactures who needed consumers..starting around ww1...this is NOT an attack on capitalism but the right would perceive it as so lol
I don't disagree with your assessment, and I consider myself quite right wing. We are lazier than ever, and maybe stupider than ever (at least the bottom half). I think this is because we have a system that encourages the easiest, and often laziest method of production. Just look at what we have come to today... We don't even produce most of the stuff we consume anymore. It's not that we couldn't, because we have whole segments of society that basically do and produce nothing, but consume more than most people around the world could imagine.
We are not as self reliant as we once were, and I don't think that's a good thing. It does benefit the corporations immensely though, as we have come to depend on them, now more than ever. It benefits them when we lose the ability to do the things that we used to do for ourselves, even if we were not as efficient as the corporations. We would be better off with a society of diversely skilled, capable and dependable people. I don't think anyone could argue against that.
Admittedly they're not dying or starving, but if Americans had to deal with this type of economic hardship they would call for the country causing it to be nuked a million times over.
Don't forget Iran was invaded in the 80s and the entire world supported Iraq. They were all alone.
Americans don't know what that feels like, they sit back and watch the fireworks from afar or on CNN.
and with all that it is Saudis (or their financed terrorists) not Iranians that attacked us on 9/11 and thereafter. We really need to reconsider our position in the middle east. At least we should not be taking sides.
I don't disagree with your assessment, and I consider myself quite right wing. We are lazier than ever, and maybe stupider than ever (at least the bottom half). I think this is because we have a system that encourages the easiest, and often laziest method of production. Just look at what we have come to today... We don't even produce most of the stuff we consume anymore. It's not that we couldn't, because we have whole segments of society that basically do and produce nothing, but consume more than most people around the world could imagine.
We are not as self reliant as we once were, and I don't think that's a good thing. It does benefit the corporations immensely though, as we have come to depend on them, now more than ever. It benefits them when we lose the ability to do the things that we used to do for ourselves, even if we were not as efficient as the corporations. We would be better off with a society of diversely skilled, capable and dependable people. I don't think anyone could argue against that.
The article says the following:
It sounds like piracy could be a fairly sizable market there!
Piracy is big.
The internet bloc is easy to bypass (there is an app) so movies/shows from Hollywood are pirated all the time.
The actual theaters only show Iranian which I always find boring (the comedies try though).
Iran in terms of writing quality/plot development is where Hollywood was at in the 1980s with the dumb romcoms and action flicks. And I mean the bad 80s stuff.
Social and medical decline will reach a tipping point.
Take the Romans; they were a kingdom of farmers, they built an empire and wealth came to the southern Italian peninsula; well before the actual collapse of Rome this decadence and greed made its people turn on each other, and then with the rise of Christianity they started valuing a more ascetic lifestyle in rural villas/communities.
It is the cycle of all societies, no human is great enough to benefit from abundance and complacency without eventually destroying themselves.
Greed and universality lead to the death of community, struggle, and ingenuity. Eventual the cycle will repeat. We will become more humble and the prices we are accustomed to will no longer exist.
You can see it already with the negative attitudes of people and the selfish actions you see daily. Gang Violence and crime are way down yet people are becoming more destructive with alcoholism and high debt.
And one day we will return to were we are. Neoliberals have built a fantasy where they say we will grow endlessly, but even if that were possible the human mind will not allow it.
Statistically the late 90s must have been the best time, crime was bottoming out, the economy was exploding. Yet it was a time of great anger, backstabbing, and degeneracy.
Tipping point.
Don’t believe it for a minute.
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Business Insider sucks
